Bartlett Harvey '42

Bartlett “Bart” Harvey, valedictorian, Suma Cum Laud, Alpha Delta Phi, passed away Sept. 29, 2010, in Exeter, N.H. Bart was born in Brookline, Mass. He prepared at Deerfield Academy, spending summers at a primitive camp in the Adirondacks where he developed a lifelong love of wilderness and simple living. After graduation from Amherst, he served as a Conscientious Objector in the Army Medical Corps.

Bart was recruited in 1949 to join the Marshall Plan in Paris as an economist. He worked for six years for the recovery of Europe after WWII, serving in France, Holland and Italy. He was acutely aware of the problems after the treaty of Versailles in 1919 and the possibilities to correct those mistakes. In 1955, he brought his family to Washington, to work on related projects. Bart eventually rejoined the overseas team of USAID and served as deputy mission chief in Ankara, Turkey, and from 1970-73 as chief of the USAID mission in Kabul, Afghanistan. In both countries, he learned the basics of the language and traveled extensively to learn the culture as he administered and devised development projects appropriate to the context. Bart served as executive vice president of Agricultural Cooperative Development International from 1975-85, a job that took him to many remote corners of the world, helping to organize cooperatives, improve agricultural practices and develop appropriate financial structures.

Bart was a skilled carpenter and handyman, remodeling his house and building a clavichord, a sailing dingy, and a good part of the family’s furniture. His simple cabin on the coast of Maine became a base for sailing adventures and a summer house treasured by the extended family.

Known and loved for his generosity, wisdom and many talents, Bart is survived by his wife of 68 years, Margo (Mt. Holyoke ’40); his four children, Bartlett Jr. ’67, Joan Campbell Harvey, Beth Harvey Kilbreth and David S. ’74; and seven grandchildren.